Tribute to ‘colourful’ Karworld boss ‘Waddy’

Neil Shefferd

Tributes have been paid to the former owner of a used car dealership in Aylesbury, who has died aged 62.

Randolph Keith Waddingham, who was better known as Waddy, owned Karworld, formerly known as KW Autos.

Mr Waddingham was born at the Royal Bucks Hospital in Aylesbury on October 21, 1952.

He was educated at St Louis Catholic Primary School (then known as St Louis Convent) and The Grange School, both in Aylesbury.

After leaving school Mr Waddingham joined The Bucks Herald newspaper as an apprentice printer in the early 1970s.

His first love was cars and his dream was to start a business buying and selling vehicles.

As soon as he could he left the world of printing behind and KW Autos was born.

He was joined in the business by Colin Padfield for a partnership that lasted more than 40 years.

For a short time the business traded in a small premises in the High Street, however it expanded and for the next eight years operated from a larger site in Upper Hundreds.

The development of the Aylesbury Ring Road in the 1980s forced the business to close.

After a few years it re-emerged as Karworld and it traded from its new premises in the Weston Way Industrial Estate in Lower Road, Stoke Mandeville where it remains today.

Mr Waddingham was a keen sports fan and a lifelong supporter of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.

He was a member of the Aylesbury Squash Club for many years.

Mr Waddingham was also a great supporter of local youth football, with teams at Bedgrove Dynamos and Chinnor Football Club both enjoying periods of Karworld sponsorship.

A family statement in tribute to Mr Waddingham said: “A larger-than-life, colourful and fun-loving local figure he worked hard and played hard and will be sadly missed by his sister Yvonne, Christine and all his many friends.”

Mr Waddingham’s funeral will take place on Friday, October 16 at 1.30pm at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Bedgrove.

This will be followed by a burial at Aylesbury Cemetery and then a wake at The Bell pub in Stoke Mandeville.

Donations can be left to either KY Green Funeral Directors or the Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity.